


boys will be bugs

by orphan_account



Category: The Simpsons
Genre: Boys Being Boys, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Falling In Love, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mild Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21855097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: bart and nelson's relationship as it evolves. cuz it's not gay to kiss your bro.(okay. maybe it's a little gay.)
Relationships: Nelson Muntz/Bart Simpson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 78





	boys will be bugs

**Author's Note:**

> "get a load of this monster,  
> he doesn't know how to communicate,  
> his mind is in a different place  
> will everybody please give him a little bit of space?
> 
> get a load of this train wreck,  
> his hairs a mess and he doesn't know who he is yet,  
> but little do we know the stars welcome him with open arms."
> 
> ** the boys are like 17 in this, think junior year of highs school. there will be mentions of making out but nooooooo smut. **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also the boys are like 17 in this think junior year of highschool

“And so that, class, is why I’ll never believe in love again,” Bart’s economics teacher, Ms.Mackin, finishes with a sigh. An uncomfortable silence takes over the classroom. Ms. Mackin doesn’t seem to notice; she stares forlornly at the puff of steam coming out of the broken radiator. The whole classroom was too hot and too moist. It was five months into the school year and no one had learned any actual economics. Bart wasn’t actually sure what economics was even the study of.

Then, in the steamy silence came the shrill ring of the bell. A shared sense of relief washed over the class as everyone gathered their things and started filling out the door. Milhouse caught up to Bart as the two exited the room- even at seventeen he was still the same dumb chubby loveable nerd he had been when they were ten years old. He had gotten taller, gaining a couple inches on Bart, much to the blonde’s hidden dismay. With his voice deeper and lower now, he sounded almost exactly like his father. 

“Wow, some class, huh Bart? It was really awkward when Ms. Mackin started crying. I didn’t know teachers could cry.” 

“I knew it,” Bart said with a shrug, reflecting back on all the teacher’s he had personally made cry over the years. A wistful smile came over his face. Suddenly, his face was colliding with someone’s back, knocking him backwards. He lands on his tailbone with a painful ‘ _ thump’ _ and a groan.

“Hey, watch where you’re going,” A gruff voice exclaims. Bart groans again, recognizing the voice even before the body leering over him has swung around. He gulps, his eyes trailing from a battered pair of blue converse to dark brown eyes and a scowl. 

“Sorry, Nelson,” Bart squeaks nervously. Jimbo and Kearny had already done a number on him a few days ago after they found out he was pretending to be a pretty girl and catfishing them on Facebook (not before Bart had a chance to convince them both to send him $50 for “boob jewelry”) and his body couldn’t take any more ass kickings. He cowers from Nelson, but tries to make it look like he’s not cowering. _Keep it cool, Bart._ _He can smell your fear._

Nelson glowers at him for a moment longer.  _ Stupid Simpson… _ he grumbles in his head, as he scans the boy up and down for a moment. Cool blue eyes, currently stormy with anxiety. Pouty pink lips. Soft blonde hair  _ just _ long enough to make Nelson want to run his hands through it and pull it-  _ shit.  _ Nelson shook his head, as if the action would help clear the very clearly gay thoughts from his mind. For a moment he wavered, losing his confidence.  _ He’s cute. He’s really cute. Shitshitshit. _ He sputters, as if to say something, but no words actually come out of his mouth. Bart stares up at him, wide-eyed, with an expression both confused and pleading. Nelson awkwardly clears his throat, hoping that he’s not blushing. He thinks about hitting Bart, to prove a point, to prove that Nelson Muntz is a hard ass and totally does not have any gay thoughts ever.  _ Especially _ about Bart Simpson, who Nelson had grown particularly fond of bullying over the years. He thinks about it, and yet he can’t bring himself to do it. 

“You better watch where you’re going next time, Simpson,” He spits, before turning and walking away. Milhouse, who had flattened himself against a locker in an attempt to shrink during the encounter, helps Bart up off the floor. 

“Thanks for having my back, man,” Bart grumbles sarcastically, rubbing his sore tailbone with a wince. “Such a great best friend.”

“Hey! It wouldn’t do you any good to have him kick both our asses!” Milhouse defensively points out. “Besides, he didn’t even do anything to you.”

“I know, weird right?” The Nelson that Bart knew was a bully, through-and-through. For years he had tormented Bart and Milhouse, beating them up every opportunity he got- not to say they didn’t have their moments. Moments where they got along, where Bart actually  _ enjoyed _ being around Nelson, moments where Bart actually considered Nelson a friend. But those moments were fleeting, vanishing just as fast and hard as they came on, and Bart would go back to being a human punching bag. This year though, it seemed like something had started to change within Nelson. Sure, he was still a bully- Bart doubted that would ever change- but he was showing more mercy than ever before. The twice a week beatings had turned into once a week, then once every two weeks, and now they were averaging only one beating every 20 days. While Bart wasn’t exactly complaining, he questioned the significance behind this sudden display of humanity. Often times he would catch Nelson staring at him from across the classroom or the cafeteria, or sometimes as he and Milhouse meander down the hallway together. Bart couldn’t figure out why, and he found himself watching Nelson when Nelson wasn’t watching him. The peculiar lack of violence wasn’t the only change he had noticed in the other boy this year. Nelson’s hair was grown out, and it looked like he was taking a lot better care of it- it shined, but with good health now, not grease. He was noticeably cleaned up and taking more showers, and he was dressing slightly better too, swapping out his worn denim vest for a cool leather jacket (probably fake leather, but still). Suddenly, like the hand of God himself had come down and smacked him upside the head, Bart was hit with the realization that Nelson Muntz was hot.

“Gah!” He cried out, snapping out of his trance, eye twitching. 

“What’s the matter, Bart? Whatcha ‘gah’-ing about?” Milhouse questions, giving his friend a weird look as the two reach their respective lockers. 

“Oh, uh, I just remembered that my mom is making me go to the dentist after school,” Bart lies lamely, too shocked and ruffled to think of anything better to say. He has a frown plastered on his face as he unlocks his locker. 

“Oh. Well, I’m excited to go home. My mom goes to therapy on Thursdays, which means I have an hour to myself where I can eat all the paste I want. And I don’t have to wear any pants, either.” He wiggles his eyebrows at Bart and Bart shudders. And least that mental image helped chase out his disturbing thoughts about Nelson. For a while, anyway.

\----

Bart finds himself later that night in bed, stalking Nelson’s facebook page on his iPhone.  _ His profile picture is actually pretty cute, and he likes Modest Mouse- wait, shit, what am I thinking?  _ Bart groans, sitting straight up in bed and staring worriedly at his reflection in the mirror above his dresser.  _ I’m not gay, right? There’s no way I could be gay… _ Bart had dated and kissed plenty of girls, but never had found one he truly felt something for.  _ No way. No way I’m gay.  _ Bart, still staring at his reflection, pictures a pretty blonde girl with big blue eyes and big breasts curled up beside him in bed, her body pressed against his.  _ See, not gay. Totally not gay. _ Suddenly, the pretty blonde girl is no more, replaced by the husky body and shaggy brown hair of none other than Nelson Muntz. 

“Ahhh!” Bart screams, then buries his face into his pillow. There’s the sound of running in the hall and suddenly Homer bursts into the room, panicked. 

“What’s the matter boy? Did you find that rabid sugar glider that got loose in the house?” Homer twiddles his fingers worriedly, bouncing from foot to foot. That sugar glider had been menacing him for a long time now. From the vent high in the corner of the room, the sugar glider watches. 

“No,” Bart grumbles from his pillow. 

Homer seems to relax a little, but his eyes dart nervously around the room as he makes his way over to Bart’s bed. He sits on the edge and awkwardly gives Bart a pat on the back.

“There, there, Bart. Tell Daddy what’s wrong.” 

“Ugh, don’t call yourself that,” Bart gripes. “I’m not 6 years old.”

“Is that what this is about, Son? Teenage stuff? Are you having a…” Homer looks at the back of his hand, where the word  _ puberty  _ is written in smudged ink, “Piberty?”

“Jeeze, Dad! Can’t you go bother someone else?” Bart snaps; he tries to sound annoyed, but he can’t hide the conflict in his voice. He feels sick and disgusted and confused and ashamed and he has no idea what to do about it- it’s certainly not something he wants to tell his father about. 

Homer frowns, staring at the lump on the bed that is his son. He may not be the best dad in the world, but he knows when his children are upset about something, and he could tell something was bothering Bart. “Oh c’mon, boy, you can talk to me. I was a teenager once too, and Daddy had lots of feelings.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” Bart says dejectedly, finally unburying his face and turning on his side, his back to Homer. 

“Well why don’t you try? C’mon, it couldn’t hurt,” Homer tries to sound cheerful as he presses his son, and suddenly Bart sort of feels like crying. What was he supposed to say? What would Homer think if he found out his only son was a whole entire fruit cake? He’s torn between needing the emotional release of talking to his father, and the sheer terror of admitting what he himself hasn’t fully accepted. Bart Simpson likes boys. Bart Simpson is riding the rainbow rollercoaster. Bart Simpson will probably grow up to own cloth napkins. Bart Simpson has a big fat crush on Nelson Muntz. “Please,” Homer pleads, sincerity in his voice, and Bart’s resolve caves. He can do this. He can talk to Homer about his problem, without revealing that he’s a sinful homosexual bastard man. 

“It’s just… What do you do when you like a person, and you think they're really cute, but they beat you up all the time?” Bart finally turns to Homer, who stares at him blankly for a moment and laughs. 

“Oh, boy, you had me worried for a second. Listen, there’s nothing to worry about. It’s totally fine for a girl to hit a boy, everyone knows that doesn’t really count. Because girls-” he wags his fingers in the air as he says ‘girls’, “aren’t strong like boys are.”

Bart grumbles but doesn’t say anything. Homer’s advice is a far cry from being helpful. “I say you go for it, boy,” Homer puts his hand on Bart’s shoulder for a second. “I mean, the best thing to do when a person has major flaws is to rush into a relationship with them and hope that eventually, they change. Just like your mom did with me.”

“Great talk, Homer,” Bart says, the obvious sarcasm in his voice flying brilliantly far over Homer’s head. Homer gives peck on the forehead that Bart quickly wipes away, disgusted. 

“I’m glad I could help son. Now, get some sleep,” He stands and walks over to the door, shutting off the light as he goes.

“Homer, what are you doing? It’s only eight o’clock.” 

“You too, son,” Homer replies, obviously no longer listening. He leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. For a second Bart just sits in darkness. He sighs, and is about to get up and turn the light back on when his door suddenly opens again. The light flicks on and this time it’s Lisa, clad in her striped pink pajamas. Bart’s half tempted to chuck a pillow at her, but instead he just grumpily turns his head to stare out the window.

“Look, Bart, I couldn’t help but have eavesdropped in the hall…” Lisa chuckles nervously, the sound deflating as Bart continues to ignore her in favor of staring off into the night. “I don’t think you should listen to what dad said. You may be a jerk, but you shouldn’t be okay with someone treating you badly.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not that simple, Lis. And besides, it’s not… It doesn’t happen  _ all _ the time.” Hell, even today, Nelson could have easily kicked his ass. But he didn’t- he walked away. He showed mercy. But what did that mean?

“Well, I think you should really consider it Bart. You don’t want to get wrapped up with someone who’s just gonna end up hurting you.”

“Oh, you’re probably right,” Bart buries his head in his hands for a minute, a stress response. “I don’t even know why I’m making such a big deal about this. It’s not even that serious. I mean, nothing will ever happen between us. Ever.”

“Who is it, anyway?” Lisa questions. The only people she can think of who beat on Bart are all boys. Did he have some new school bully that no one knew about? 

“Don’t worry about it. Look, I appreciate you talking to me, Lis, but I just wanna be alone now.” Lisa hesitates, giving her brother a worried look.

“Well, alright. But if you need to talk, you know where to find me.” Bart doesn’t say anything in response, just goes back to staring out the window. Lisa exits the room with a sigh. For a moment he isn’t sure what to do with himself; he watches the way the tree branches sway in the breeze outside his window, and notices that the moon in the sky is almost full. He unlocks his phone and sends a message to Milhouse-  _ what’s up man?  _ Milhouse isn’t active, and Bart doubts he’s going to respond, but it’s worth a try. Milhouse was notorious for going to bed early, which Bart often made fun of him for. He scrolled down his timeline for a little bit, waiting for a reply, but it was hard to focus. Before he could stop himself, he found himself back on Nelson’s page, scrolling through his pictures and statuses. Nelson didn’t post much- he mostly played facebook mafia games. He didn’t have a ton of pictures, but the few that he had up he looked ruggedly handsome in. How had Bart never noticed before? He felt his heart flutter a little. This was weird. This felt weird. It had been fifteen minutes and Milhouse still hadn’t responded- the lame-o was probably in a paste induced coma by now. 

Bart fidgeted uneasily. An idea was crossing his mind, one he wasn’t particularly fond of but one he was finding hard to resist. His finger hesitated over his phone screen for a second, and then, before he could chicken out, he clicked the message icon on the top of Nelson’s page. The window redirected to messanger, and Bart, unsure of what to say, typed out the best thing he could come up with:  _ hey. _

\---

Nelson Muntz had gone home and found himself in a similar funk. These newly discovered feelings for Bart Simpson had the burly boy filled with confusion and upset, which he expressed by punching trees in his backyard.  _ Stupid Bart Simpson with his stupid blonde hair… _ Punch.  _ Stupid Bart with his stupid laugh and stupid adorable smile... _ Another punch. He punched until he had worn himself out and his knuckles were bleeding, and then had gone inside to cook himself and his mom some dinner. She was passed out on the couch, despite the commotion occuring in the backyard, but woke up in time to eat before heading off to work at the strip club. Nelson, alone with his thoughts again, turned on the tv in his best attempt to distract himself from the intruding thoughts. 

Eventually, he was able to get sucked into the world of McDreamy and McSteamy. Grey’s Anatomy was his guilty pleasure. By the end of the episode, Nelson was in tears- the old man he had really been rooting for to live was fucking dead. But the show had done its job- for the past forty minutes, stupid beautiful Bart Simpson hadn’t crossed his mind once. Suddenly, Nelson’s phone vibrated. He looked down at the screen and almost instantly regretted it.

**Bart Simpson:** hey

Nelson gaped for a second, unsure of how to feel. He and Bart had been friends on facebook for years, because who wasn’t friends on Facebook these days? But this was the first message he and Bart had ever actually exchanged through all these years. Why was Bart messaging him  _ now _ of all times? Did he have some sort of sixth sense about the fact that he had been on Nelson’s mind all day? If so, it was annoying. And a little anxiety inducing. Suddenly, Nelson’s heart felt like it was beating faster. Unsure of what to say, he wrote back, 

**Nelson Muntz:** sup nerd. 

Good, that was good. Engaging, not over eager, and still establishing his dominance. It was a good response. So why were his palms so sweaty? He wiped them on his pants, barely registering the Grey’s Anatomy theme song that signaled another episode was playing. Dear god, it must be a marathon. And here he is, missing it, because he’s waiting on a response from fucking Bart Simpson.

It didn’t take very long to get a reply. 

**Bart Simpson:** nuthing man just doing cool guy shit. Thx for not beating me up 2day. I still have jimbo and kearneys fistprints all over my stomach. 

This annoyed Nelson. It’s not like Jimbo, Kearney, and Dolp bullying Bart was anything new, but all of a sudden Nelson felt less than impressed by that behavior. The only one who should be jerking Bart around was  _ him. _ Not that that really made any sense, but still. Nelson felt a feeling swell in his stomach that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Protectiveness? Possessiveness? He couldn’t exactly discern what he was feeling, and finally decided it was a combination of the two. 

**Nelson Muntz:** jimbo and kearney are losers. And you got lucky. But ur welcome.

**Bart Simpson:** :)  
**Bart Simpson:** what r u up 2

Nelson looks up at the TV, where Meredith is giving a dramatic speech to Derrick about how he needs to love her. He’s still sweating.

**Nelson Muntz:** watching wrestling

**Nelson Muntz:** extreme wrestling

Good. That seemed convincing. On screen, Meredith and Derrick embrace each other passionately. Both of them were crying. Nelson pictures himself embracing Bart like that, and then smacks himself upside his own head.  _ Stupid. Gay. Thoughts.  _

**Bart Simpson:** cool man i like wrestling  
**Nelson Muntz:** well who doesnt  
**Bart Simpson:** maybe we can hang out and watch it together sometime. 

Damnit. Nelson’s whole body suddenly felt warm. Was it the idea of hanging out with Bart, spending that time close to him? Was it fear of having to admit he actually hated wrestling? He was so confused. Why did Bart want to hang out with him all of a sudden? It wasn’t doing much to help Nelson’s inner turmoil. And yet, he couldn’t help but feel a little excited at the prospect of having Bart around.  _ Play it cool, _ he told himself.

**Nelson Muntz:** yeah maybe.

**Bart Simpson:** you can come to my house after school 2morrow  
**Bart Simpson:** if u want 

Nelson ponders this for a moment. Part of him feels like that sounds like a very good idea, and part of him thinks it’s the worst idea he’s ever heard. Is it really so bad to hang out with Bart? It’s not like two dudes watching wrestling together is gay or anything. Maybe if he hangs out with Bart, he’ll realize it was all a fluke and that he doesn’t actually have any romantic feelings for the boy. Yeah, that seemed logical. He would spend time with Bart, only to prove Bart means nothing to him. It was sure to work.

**Nelson Muntz:** i guess.

**Nelson Muntz:** as long as ur dork sidekick isnt there. 

**Bart Simpson:** milhouse? 

**Nelson Muntz:** he breathes stupid.

**Bart Simpson:** yea it the asthma

**Bart Simpson:** but it will just b the 2 of us ;)

**Bart Simpson:** i meant :)********

**Bart Simpson:** i swear i meant :)

Nelson was frozen into a temporary state of shock, flushing deeply at the implications behind that stupid emoji. On the other end of the conversation, Bart was freaking out in embarrassment.  _ Ican’tbelieveIjustdidthatohgodohgodNelsonistyping.  _ He thought about just chucking his phone out the window, dropping out of school, and going entirely off the grid. He could build a shelter in the forest if he had to, and live off the land. He could learn to hunt and gather and to skin a bear and- his phone vibrated, snapping him out of his thoughts. 

**Nelson Muntz:** gay simpson.

**Nelson Muntz:** ill still come.

**Nelson Muntz:** just dont try to make out with me.

**Bart Simpson:** no worries on that end ;)

**Bart Simpson:** holy fuck i did it again

**Nelson Muntz:** quit being gay simpson. 

**Bart Simpson:** with pleasure. Ill see u 2morrow?

**Nelson Muntz:** sure.

**Bart Simpson:** have a good night nelson :)

Nelson can feel bile rising up in his throat. Bart was cute. Bart was too cute. And Nelson Muntz was totally and completely fucked. 

\----

The next morning, the conversation between the two boys felt like a dream. As he sits at the table half heartedly nibbling on breakfast, Bart finds himself rereading the conversation over and over. 

“Bart, honey, what’s wrong? You’re barely eating,” Marge’s soft and worried voice calls him out of the virtual world and back to reality, where he finds his mother and sister both staring at him. 

“Huh? Oh, nothing,” He takes a bite of his toast to emphasize the point. “Hey, mom, uh, is it okay if Nelson comes over after school to hang out?”

Marge and Lisa exchange a puzzled look. “Nelson Muntz? I didn’t know you two were friends.” 

“Uh, well, we just kinda started talking. We both like wrestling.” Bart doesn’t know why he’s lying. He doesn’t like wrestling. He only said that last night so Nelson would think he was cool.

“Oh, well, okay then. I guess that’s alright. As long as you two boys play nice.” 

“Yessum,” Bart hummed, and went back to eating. Marge seemed to let it go, chalking it up to the two boys growing up and becoming more mature, but Lisa eyes her brother suspiciously from across the table. Bart doesn’t notice, though. He’s too distracted with thoughts of Nelson. Was it weird for him to be so excited that Nelson was coming over? Yeah. Probably. But it doesn’t have to be weird. He’ll just hang out with Nelson, as a friend, and then he’ll get over these weird feelings. He’s sure of it. There’s literally no way this plan can fail. No way.

\-----

“Hey Nelson!” Nelson recognizes the cheerful, still-pretty-high-pitched-for-someone-going-through-puberty voice right away. He turns around to find Bart looking up at him. “Still wanna come over tonight?”

“Hmph,” He grunts. “Yeah, I guess so.” 

“Cool. So, uh, meet me at my locker at the end of the day?” 

“Whatever.” Nelson is playing it cool as a cucumber. The one thing Nelson Muntz won’t come across as is overeager. Bart gives him a wry smile that goes straight to Nelson’s heart. 

“Cool, well, see you then,” He says breezily and wanders off to go find Milhouse. The school day seems to inch by, for both boys. At lunch Bart tells Milhouse that Nelson is coming over after school, and Milhouse has about a billion questions to ask about it. Why is Nelson coming over? Who invited who? What were the two going to do? Was Milhouse being replaced? Bart manages to convince Milhouse that it’s better to have Nelson as a friend than as a bully and that no, he is not being replaced. “There will never be another Milhouse,” Bart tells him.

“Well, actually, I want to name my son that one day-”

“Like I said, there will never be another Milhouse.”

\---

  
  


The day finally comes to a close, and as promised, Nelson shows up at Bart’s locker. Milhouse seems a little nervous, but Nelson refrains from bullying him, even though he’s practically begging for it. The three ride the bus home, Milhouse getting off a couple stops before Bart, Nelson, and Lisa get off at the Simpson house.

The boys manage to get through the awkward “Oh hello Nelson I haven’t seen you in a while look I baked cookies” greeting from Marge and Bart pulls Nelson up the stairs and into his room. 

“Sorry about my mom,” He gripes, completely embarrassed. His mom had referred to him as “barty-poo”.  _ In front of Nelson.  _ “It’s so nice my little Barty-poo has a new friend to play with.” Bart kind of wanted to die. For a second, standing in that kitchen and listening to his mother talk, his soul had actually left his body. 

“S’all good. Your mom’s nice. The last time my mom baked cookies she fell asleep and set the stove on fire. Now we have to cook everything on a hot plate.” 

“Aw man, your family has a hot plate?” Bart couldn’t help but be a little jealous. Nelson nods proudly.

“Heats up in thirty seconds.”

“Damn,” says Bart. 

“Cooks everything pretty even too and- hey, is GameStation 6?” 

Now it’s Bart’s turn to feel pride. “Sure is. Wanna play Call of Warfare: Modern Zombie?” 

“I don’t know Bart, does a zombie love  _ brains?”  _ The two grin at each other, and Bart quickly goes about setting up the game system, tossing Nelson the extra controller. They spend the hours between that moment and dinner slaughtering zombies, the bedroom filled with the sound of boys being boys. Without realizing it, the two were sliding closer and closer to each other. “BOOM! Headshot!” Bart laughs maniacally.

“Nice shot Simpson? Did you see the way the blood spurted onto the screen?” Nelson gave a gruff laugh, while Bart jerked his controller a bit trying to avoid a Zombie attack, and all of a sudden their shoulders were touching. Both boys felt a spark of electricity at the touch, but chose not to say anything, although suddenly it was much harder to focus on the game. They were saved suddenly by Marge’s voice carrying up the stairs, “Bart, Nelson, time for dinner!” 

“Race ya down the stairs!” Bart yells, and takes off running. Nelson wasn’t going to dignify that idea, so he exits the bedroom at a normal pace just in time to watch Bart fall down many stairs. “Haw-haw,” He laughs, pointing at Bart’s collapsed body on the ground. 

“Aw man, that hurt,” Bart groans, rubbing his head and wincing. When they get to the table Nelson is still laughing and Bart is flushed red with embarrassment. “It wasn’t my fault,” he whines. “The stairs were extra slippery.”

“That’s because I waxed them, silly,” Homer chimes in. From the seat next to him, Marge grumbles. 

“Why would you do that Homer?” She asks. Homer shrugs. 

“I dunno. I thought it would help you out.”

“Oh, Homie,” she smiles. “That is so sweet.”

“I’m in a lot of pain, Mom.”

“Eat your vegetables, Bart. So Nelson, how have things been for you?”

“Pretty good,” Nelson takes a big bite of the pork chop Marge has prepared. “My mom got promoted at the strip club, so she’s not working the graveyard shift anymore. We had enough money to fix the bathtub.” 

“Oh, well that’s great to hear,” Marge forces a smile. “So do you like school?” 

“Eh,” Nelson shrugs. “I like Chicken Patty Wednesday.” 

“Well it’s good to have something to look forward to.”

The rest of the dinner is filled with casual, sometimes awkward, sometimes nonsensical conversation. Lisa can’t help but eye her brother and Nelson, suspicious of their sudden new friendship. Teamed up together, those two seemed like nothing but trouble. Were they planning something? Some sort of elaborate prank? She’s cut short from her thoughts when Homer chokes on a brussel sprout and Marge has to give him the heimlich. The sprout shoots out of her windpipe and lands in her milk, to which she makes a disgusted face and Nelson and Bart crack up laughing.

“See Marge?” Homer yells. “See what happens when you make me eat vegetables?” 

  
  


\---

After dinner the boys head back up to Bart’s room. “So, uh… did you want to watch wrestling now?” Bart asks awkwardly. He doesn’t really want to watch wrestling, but isn’t that what he invited Nelson over for? Nelson rubs his head and looks down at the ground. 

“Oh yeah, sure. Wrestling. Yeah, let’s watch wrestling.” They sit on the bed a couple feet apart from each other and Bart turns on the TV, scrolling through the guide for the extreme wrestling channel.

“D’ooooh,” He softly grumbles as he passes a listing for a new episode of Grey’s Anatomy. It would be airing in five minutes. But no way Nelson would want to watch that. 

“What’s wrong?” Nelson asks, also eyeing the listing for the new Grey’s Anatomy. 

“Oh, uh, it’s nothing. It’s just, uh. I kinda like that show.”

“Oh, uh, you wanna watch it?”

“Nah, we don’t have to. I’m sure you’d rather watch, uh, extreme wrestling.”

“Well, uh, actually Bart. I don’t like wrestling. I mean, doing its okay. But I don’t like watching it. I’m sorry I lied to you, Bart. I was… I was watching Grey’s Anatomy.” 

“Aww,” Bart’s features soften and he gives Nelson a smile that melts the larger boy’s heart. He puts on the channel, the end of last week’s episode still playing, and are both startled by a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Bart calls, and Marge opens up the door, giving the two boys a weak smile. “Nelson, honey, do you need a ride home?”

“Aww, mom, can Nelson stay the night? We don’t have school tomorrow, and we were gonna watch… well… there’s the new Grey’s Anatomy.”

Suddenly Marge seems very excited. “What? Well why didn’t you say so? Of course Nelson can stay, but why don’t you come watch in the living room!”

And so that’s the story of how the whole Simpson family, and Nelson, found themselves gathered around the TV, lost in the world of Seattle Grace Hospital.

\---

“Man, that was a really powerful episode,” Bart says as the two boys reenter Bart’s room. Bart shuts the door behind him, and the two flop on the bed. “That McDreamy man, he gets it.”

“I know what you mean,” Nelson says wistfully. “To find a love like he and Meredith have would really be something.” He eyes Bart as he says this, his heart fluttering a little. The plan was supposed to be to realize he didn’t like Bart, but right now he was feeling like he liked Bart more than ever. Shit.  _ Shit. _ His palms were starting to sweat.

“Aw man, those two are the best together. If I had something like that, I would die the happiest man. I even know Meredith’s whole speech. From that one episode.” 

“You do?”

Bart cleared his throat, and began to give his best Meredith impression, using his talent for fake crying to help him. “But Dereck, I love you, in a really, really big, pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window, unfortunate way, that makes me hate you, love you. So pick me. Choose me. Love m-”

The poor boy didn’t even have time to finish his monologue before Nelson’s lips were crashing in his own, cutting off his words in his throat. Bart’s breath hitched, and for a moment, time stood still.

**Author's Note:**

> i know grey's anatomy doesnt come out on fridays dont u dare come for me 
> 
> also this will be short prob like 3/4 chapters


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